Great Warrior Leaders/Thinkers

Olds, Robin

Air Ace in World War II and Vietnam.

November 2000

Compiled by Ron Fuller
Bibliographer, Air University Library
Maxwell AFB, AL

Contents

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All sites last accessed February 19, 2003.

Internet Resources

Brigadier General Robin Olds.
Available at: http://www.af.mil/news/biographies/olds_r2.html
Official USAF biography found in AUL/OTS "Airpower Leaders" Reserves, provides career assignment chronology and other details omitted from current edition.
Last accessed: November 1, 2000.

Books

Please note: A call number beginning with "R" denotes a reference book.

Drendel, Lou.  ... And Kill MIGS: Air-to-Air Combat in the Vietnam War. Rev ed. Carrollton, TX, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1984. 80 p. 
See pp 12-14 for Col Olds' description of combat action.
Book call no.: 959.7 D772aa 1984

Drendel, Lou. USAF Phantoms in Combat. Carrollton, TX, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1987. 63 p. 
Olds, pp 5-8.
Book call no.: 358.43 D772u

Gurney, Gene.   Vietnam: The War in the Air. A Pictorical History of the U.S. Air Forces in the Vietnam War: Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. New York, Crown Publishers, 1985. 277 p. 
Picture of Col Olds being carried off by his men after completing his 100th mission over North Vietnam, p 140. 
Brief account of Operation Bolo, pp 142-143. 
Picture of Col Olds, commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, and other airmen on the occasion of the unit's 15th air victory over enemy MIG's, p 156.
Book call no.: 959.704348 G981v

Morrocco, John.  Thunder from Above: Air War.  1941-1968. Boston, Boston Pub. Co, 1984. 191 p.
Year of Strategic Persuasion: Operation Bolo (Colonel Robin Olds assigned as mission leader), pp 144-146. 
Book call no.: 959.704348 M883t  (SOS/OTS Reserve)

Philpott, Bryan. Famous Fighter Aces. Wellingborough, Stephens, 1989. 160 p.
Olds, 121-123.
Book Call no.: R 940.44 P571f

Scutts, Jerry. Wolfpack: Hunting MiGs over Vietnam. Osceola, WI, Motorbooks International, 1988. 138 p. 
Olds' Story, pp 73-84.
Book call no.: 959.704348 S437w

Sherwood, John Darrell. Fast Movers: America's Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience. New York, Free Press, 1999. 268 p.
See Chapter 1, "Old Lionheart: Robin Olds and the Eight Tactical Fighter Wing, 1966-1967," pp. 1-38.
Book call no.:959.704348 S554f

Shores, Christopher. Air Aces. Novato, CA, Presidio Press, 1983. 192 p.
Colonel Robin Olds (military biography), pp 176-178.
Book call no.: 358.4 S559a

Sims, Edward H. Fighter Tactics and Strategy, 1914-1970. Fallbrook, CA, Aero Publishers, 1972. 266 p.  
General Robin Olds' views on fighter tactics and strategy, and qualifications of an outstanding fighter pilot, pp 239-247.  See index for other reference.
Book call no.: 358.4 SC14f

The Tale of Two Bridges and the Battle for the Skies over North Vietnam, edited by A.J.C. Lavalle. Washington, GPO, 1976, 193 p. (USAF Southeast Asia Monograph Series, Volume I, Monographs 1 and 2).
Col Robin Olds' description of Operation Bolo, pp 142-145.
See index for other references.
A copy of this book is also located at the reference desk.
Book call no.: 959 A2981u  v.1 no.l-2

Toliver, Raymond F. and Constable, Trevor J. Fighter Aces.  New York, Macmillan, 1965. 354 p.
USAAF Aces of European Theater: Colonel Robin Olds, pp 149-150.
Victory statistics, p 325.
Book call no.: 940.544 T649f

Toliver, Raymond F. and Constable, Trevor J. Fighter Aces of the U.S.A. Fallbrook, CA, Aero Publishers, 1979. 400 p.
Fighter Aces of Vietnam: Colonel Robin Olds, pp 327-331. 
See also pages 174-175; 191.
Book call no.: R 923.573 T649f

Ulanoff, Stanley M.  Fighter Pilot. New York, Prentice Hall, 1986. 314 p.
Consult index for references to Col Robin Olds.
Book call no.: 358.43 U36f 1986

U.S. Air Force. Office of Air Force History. The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973: An Illustrated Account, edited by Carl Berger.
Rev ed.  Washington, GPO, 1984. 383 p.
Col Robin Olds, pp 81-82, 96.
Book call no.: R 959.7 U582 1985

Document

Olds, Robin.  End of Tour Report. Thailand, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, October 1967. 39 p.
Doc. call no.: M-U 42193-247

Periodicals

Air Ace (Col Robin Olds) Says Enemy Has Improved 'a Lot' in Year (in his report to President Johnson at the White House). New York Times, p 4, col 3, October 3, 1967.

Boyne, Walter J. MiG Sweep. Air Force Magazine 81:46-51 November 1998.
Recap of Operation Bolo in the air war in Southeast Asia in which Olds devised and executed a plan to lure MiGs into air-to-air combat.
Also available online at: http://www.afa.org/magazine/Nov1998/1198mig.html

Brigadier General Robin Olds New Director of Aerospace Safety. Aerospace Safety 27:1 March 1971.
Short military biography.

Correll, John T.  MIG Sweep--It Was a Trap; The MIGs Expected F-10s, but Instead the Sky Was Full of Phantoms. Airman 19:41-43+ June 1975.
"... it was to be called "Operation Bolo," and there had been little debate about who should plan and lead it. We gave it to Olds, of course."

Dorr, Robert F. Fighter Ace Robin Olds Led American Pilots Through Four Decades. World War Il 8:12+ July 1993.

Kuhn, Tom. Robins Olds: An Unconventional Man's Fight for Conventional Warfare. Airman 40:16-19 December 1996.
Reviews Olds career and thoughts on tactical air power beginning with his proposal that P-51s were better suited for prescision bombing than B-17s and B-24s.
Also available online at: http://www.af.mil/news/airman/1296/olds.htm

MacSorley, Frank R., Jr. F-4 Shoot-Out (for the Wolf Pack commanded by Col Robin S. Olds). American Aviation Historical Society Journal 14:197-198 Fall 1969.
In reference note 2 at end of article, Col Olds' comments on the accreditation of victories over enemy aircraft and also the assigning of specific aircraft to aircraft commanders.

Man in the News; Robin Olds--' Utterly Devoted' Pilot. New York Times, p 4, col 3, May 23, 1967.
Reprinted in Air Force and Space Digest 50:41 July 1967.

Wetterhahn, Ralph F. Change of Command. Air & Space Smithsonian 12:62-69 August/September 1997.
Recollections of Olds' career as commander of the 8th TFW in Southeast Asia and the effect of his leadership style on morale and operational results.

Olds, Robin . Discipline: Key to Air Force Success.  Airman 12:22-25 October 1968.
Interview by Ted R. Sturm.

Olds, Robin.  Forty-Six Years a Fighter Pilot. American Aviation Historical Society Journal 13:235-239 Winter 1968.

Address given by Brig Gen Olds before the 2nd Annual Western Aerospace. Historical Symposium  October 4, 1968.

Olds, Robin. 'How I Got My First MIG.' Air Force and Space Digest 50:38-40+ July 1967.

Olds, Robin . The Leadership and Military Training Program (at the U.S. Air Force Academy). Air University Review  20:33-39 November-December 1968.

Olds, Robin. The Lessons of Clobber College. Flight International (London) 95:1053-1056 June 26, 1969.

Olds, 8 0thers to Retire. Air Force Times 33:3 January 1973.

Olds to Shift from Big Job at Academy, Air Force Times 31:4  December 16, 1970.
Olds becomes USAF Director of Aerospace Safety, Norton AFB, CA. 

Tillman Barrett. Age and the Fighter Ace--Or, What Was That about Old Pilots and Bold Pilots? Aerospace Historian 28:108-115 June 1981.
Note of Robin Olds' record along with picture, pp 113-114.

World War II Ace (Col Robin Olds) Downs 3rd MIG. New York Times, p 16 col 4, May 22, 1967.

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